http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2011/03/15/public-warned-hoax-text-messages-144929
Sun Star [Philippines]
15 March 2011
Public warned on hoax text messages
SEVERAL text messages have been circulating on Monday, warning the public about the possible effect of radiation from the nuclear plant that exploded in Japan.
One of the text messages said Asian countries should take necessary precautions following Japan's admission of radiation leaks at its Fukushima nuclear plant.
It said people should remain inside their homes, close their doors and windows and swab the skin in their neck with betadine since radiation reportedly hits the thyroid first.
The text message said radiation may hit the Philippines starting 4 p.m. Monday.
Another text message said the explosion may bring acid rain that may burn the skin, causes hair loss and cancer. [...]
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=666324&publicationSubCategoryId=63
The Philippine Star
15 March 2011
DOST: No acid rain in Phl
By Helen Flores
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20110316-325678/DepEd-calls-on-school-heads-to-guard-against-hoax-text-messages
Philippine Daily Inquirer [Philippines]
16 March 2011
DepEd calls on school heads to guard against hoax text messages
By Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—State education officials called on the public, on Tuesday, to be more discerning about alarming text messages after anonymous warnings about purported acid rain and radiation leak from quake-hit Japan caused undue panic around the country, even prompting a state university to suspend classes on Monday. [...]
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20110315-325601/Dont-fall-for-radiation-hoax-brush-up-on-geography
Philippine Daily Inquirer [Philippines]
15 March 2011
Don’t fall for ‘radiation’ hoax, brush up on geography
By Jocelyn Uy
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110315-325459/Hoax-text-message-triggers-panic-in-Metro
Philippine Daily Inquirer [Philippines]
15 March 2011
Hoax text message triggers panic in Metro
By Jeannette Andrade, Jaymee T. Gamil, Niña Calleja
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Tsunami-ripple-in-city-Mails-spread-rumours-of-radiation-showers/articleshow/7705678.cms
Times of India
15 March 2011
Tsunami ripple in Chennai: Mails spread rumours of radiation showers
TNN
CHENNAI: The city has seen an aftershock of the Japanese tsunami. These weren't seismic tremors but mere rumors. The earthquake and the subsequent nuclear blast in Japan have started a series of rumors in the city asking people not to go out in the rain lest they get caught in radioactive showers which could cause skin cancers and other ailments. [...]
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=177909
The Daily Star [Bangladesh]
16 March 2011
False alert in Bangladesh
Staff Correspondent
Panic gripped many people in Dhaka and elsewhere in Bangladesh after they received text messages yesterday warning of radiation following the nuclear reactor incidents in Japan. [...]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12745128
BBC News [UK]
15 March 2011
'Radiation' text message is fakeA fake text message warning people that radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant has leaked beyond Japan has been panicking people across Asia.
The SMS message, purporting to come from the BBC, has been circulating around Asian countries since Monday. [...]
http://www.mmail.com.my/content/66545-no-acid-rain-threat
The Malay Mail [Malaysia]
15 March 2011
No 'acid rain' threat
Minister quashes rumours of fallout from Japan'a nuclear plant disaster
NURUL HUDA JAMALUDDIN
SUBANG: Do not listen to rumours circulated in text messages about acid rain hitting our shores.
That is the message from Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui.
"The public should not listen to rumours about this acid rain because of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants radiation," he said after officiating at the 2nd Asia Pacific Regional Water Conference (APRWC) this morning. [...]
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/03/113_83276.html
Korea Times [Seoul, South Korea]
16 March 2011
Police hunt radioactive material rumormongersBy Kim Rahn
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/science-technology/5955/radioactive-cloud--acid-rain-rumor-rejected.html
VietNamNet Bridge
16 March 2011
Radioactive cloud, acid rain rumor rejected[...] Teachers were also worried about the rumor. A teacher from the foreign-invested Dream House Primary School in Tay Ho district, Hanoi, said the school asked teachers to not allow pupils to play outdoors when it rained. Outdoor morning exercises were performed inside classes.
“We didn’t want to scare them, so they only told them to play indoors, not the true reason,” the teacher said.
Phan Dinh Son, Director of Bao An Computer and Supermarket Equipment Company in Hanoi, permitted his staff to go home early to avoid “acid rains” in the afternoon. [...]
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article318400.ece
Arab News [Saudi Arabia]
15 March 2011
Jeddawis panic as weather mood swings
By ARAB NEWS
JEDDAH: Roads in Jeddah were crowded on Tuesday when afternoon rains that followed a visibility-reducing sandstorm sent people scurrying home.
The Ministry of Education announced that Saudi schools would be closed on Wednesday. The International Indian School of Jeddah has also announced it would be closed on Wednesday. King Abdulaziz University let students out early on Tuesday and said it would be closed on Wednesday. [...]
Rumors were also abound that schools in Jeddah had been ordered shut due to a “nuclear” cloud heading toward Jeddah from Japan.
“I got a call from a friend telling me at 9:30 a.m. to go pick my children up from school because of a nuclear cloud. I laughed at it first and then rang the school only to be told that the school was closing because of expected rains,” a Western expat told Arab News.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2933612
Joongang Daily [South Korea]
18 March 2011
Rumors fly on Internet over fears of radiation
By Kim Mi-ju, Jung Jae-yoon
[...] "I sent text messages to my friends because I heard from my boss that wind blowing from Fukushima turned northward heading to the Korean Peninsula,” said a 27-year-old company worker surnamed Lim. “We’re told to avoid getting wet by rain because it could contain radioactive material. Whether the information’s true or not, I immediately sent out messages because we would be in big trouble if that’s true.” [...]
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110317001024
Korea Herald
17 March 2011
Source of radioactivity rumor caught
By Bae Ji-sook
An office worker in his 20s was apprehended Thursday for spreading groundless rumors that radioactive material from the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, would reach Korea.
[...] According to the National Police Agency, the 28-year-old man, identified by his family name Byun, passed on the text message from his cell phone on Tuesday. The man had received the text message from a Vietnamese friend. The message he received quoted a fake BBC news report warning that radioactivity would reach the air over the Philippines and that all people should evacuate. Investigators said Byun changed the word “Philippines” to “Korea.”
Byun reportedly defended himself by saying, “If the materials could reach the Philippines, it is obvious that Korea would be affected.” [...]
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/los-angeles-authorities-warn-residents-of-acid-rain-hoax-.html
Los Angeles Times
19 March 2011
Los Angeles County fire authorities warn residents of 'acid rain' e-mail hoax
The Los Angeles County Fire Department is advising residents to disregard a fraudulent e-mail issued in the name of the agency warning that radioactive particles released from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in Japan could mix with rain and “cause burns, alopecia or even cancer.” [...]